Train annual season ticket loophole?

ExcelPro

Hi all,

I live in Bramley (Hampshire) and commute daily to London Waterloo by train. I’m about to renew my season ticket and think I’ve discovered a loophole that will save me money.

As you would expect, my standard option is to buy an annual ticket from Bramley to London Terminals (Valid only for travel via Basingstoke). This costs £4,252. I don’t want to go via Reading because I work right next to Waterloo.

If I buy a season ticket from Basingstoke to London Terminals (Travel is allowed via any permitted route) it costs £4,088.

The small print says that with the Basingstoke to London Terminals ticket I can travel to / from the following London stations: London Bridge [LBG], London Cannon Street [CST], London Charing Cross [CHX], Vauxhall [VXH], London Blackfriars [BFR], London Waterloo East [WAE], London Victoria [VIC], London Waterloo [WAT], London Paddington [PAD], City Thameslink [CTK].

Because this ticket covers any route from Basingstoke to London (i.e. via Reading) it is valid on the route through Bramley. Due to rail ticket terms and conditions, you are allowed to break a journey at any station on the route.

The ‘Break of Journey’ description says: “You may start, break and resume, or end your journey at any intermediate station along the route of travel”.

Therefore, by my understanding with an annual season ticket from Basingstoke to London Terminals (where travel is allowed via any permitted route), I can travel from Bramley to London Waterloo.

Any rail ticket / routing experts agree with me?

It could save me £164 and also allow me to travel to either Reading or Basingstoke at the weekends from Bramley.

Thanks,
Chris

JimmyTheWig

I was always under the impression that you had to actually start the journey, originally, at the station the ticket is from. Though, obviously, there is no way of anyone being able to verify this.

But I think your plan has another problem - you would have to go via Reading, which you don't want to do. If you start at Basingstoke and go through Bramley to London you don't end up at Waterloo.

Hold on, unless you are suggesting that you use your ticket as a return first thing in the morning and come "back" to Basingstoke from London via Reading having broken your journey at Bramley. Then use your outbound ticket to go from Basingstoke to London. Then in the evening use your return ticket (again) to come straight back to Basingstoke. Then use your outbound ticket to go into London via Reading but break your journey at Bramley.
Is that your thinking? If so you are doing two outbound and two return journeys every day. I can't imagine that that is allowed!

wealdroam

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

I was always under the impression that you had to actually start the journey, originally, at the station the ticket is from. Though, obviously, there is no way of anyone being able to verify this.

From NRE's Season Ticket T&Cs:

It may be used at intermediate stations, and on any permitted route, unless a route or any other restrictions are specified on the ticket.

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

But I think your plan has another problem - you would have to go via Reading, which you don't want to do. If you start at Basingstoke and go through Bramley to London you don't end up at Waterloo.

Hold on, unless you are suggesting that you use your ticket as a return first thing in the morning and come "back" to Basingstoke from London via Reading having broken your journey at Bramley. Then use your outbound ticket to go from Basingstoke to London. Then in the evening use your return ticket (again) to come straight back to Basingstoke. Then use your outbound ticket to go into London via Reading but break your journey at Bramley.
Is that your thinking? If so you are doing two outbound and two return journeys every day. I can't imagine that that is allowed!

From NRE's Season Tickets page:

Season Tickets allow unlimited travel in both directions between the stations specified.

Therefore I believe the OP's proposal is a good one.

ExcelPro

Thanks both for your views.

The idea is that with the Basingstoke to London ticket, I can travel from Bramley to Basingstoke on the outward journey in the morning, because it's effectively the return route coming via Reading.

Then Basingstoke to Waterloo and back is obviously covered. The evening return to Bramley from Basingstoke is then covered by the outward route to London via Reading.

I've just spoken to the ticket office in Basingstoke and the chap behind the glass said this was ok without hesitation!

I've email NRE and south west trains to get this in writing, so if it's true, I can't believe it! Rail ticket pricing gone mad again.

JimmyTheWig

Nice one. Well spotted.

maniacmartin

Yes, it appears valid.

It's probably not the best idea to alert SWT in writing as you may find the loophole is closed next year.

LexyBoy

Definitely valid, no reason to be so circumspect!

It's not uncommon for there to be price differences like this - the fact that there are so many different routes possible for any given ticket, and that there are many different companies determining the prices, makes it practically inevitable. I'd not call it a loophole - the Basingstoke-London Any Permitted ticket is intended to be valid either way. You get a lot of choice with that ticket - into Waterloo, Victoria, London Bridge etc, or Reading and thence Paddington, or from Reading to Waterloo via Ascot. Valid to leave/start anywhere on those routes of course.

Thus it's always worth checking the price for season tickets from nearby stations - even if it's no cheaper, you may be able to cover a bit more ground for the same price - when I was travelling from London to Didcot I bought a ticket as far as Oxford, since it's the same price and means occasional trips there were free.

maniacmartin wrote: »

It's probably not the best idea to alert SWT in writing as you may find the loophole is closed next year.

I doubt it, as the Any Permitted ticket from Basingstoke to London is priced by First Great Western. SWT price the more direct route via Woking, which is cheaper.

The reason for the anomaly is (I think) that FGW base the price of tickets for Mortimer, Bramley and Basingstoke on the price of Reading-London - all are the same price. SWT on the other hand add a premium on top of the Basingstoke-London Via Woking fare, which pushes it above the cost of the Any Permitted.

geordie_taxi

And don't forget your yearly delay repay compo for late/cancelled trains, as its an 'any permitted' route u can claim off either swt or fgw Your compo will normally come in a discount off next years season ticket.

peachyprice

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

If so you are doing two outbound and two return journeys every day. I can't imagine that that is allowed!

Surely one of the benefits of owning a season ticket is that you can use it as often as you like on the permitted route, not just one inward and one outward journey a day?

For example, if OP went to London in the morning , came home at lunchtime then went back to London to see a show in the evening that would be perfectly acceptable.

The_Groat_Counter

peachyprice wrote: »

Surely one of the benefits of owning a season ticket is that you can use it as often as you like on the permitted route, not just one inward and one outward journey a day?

For example, if OP went to London in the morning , came home at lunchtime then went back to London to see a show in the evening that would be perfectly acceptable.

That's correct - you can use it as much as you like, there's no limit.

Kernel_Sanders

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

....you are doing two outbound and two return journeys every day. I can't imagine that that is allowed!

It's a season ticket ; any travel is allowed on any part of the route. How else would they be able to justify a price of over 4 grand?